Moltke's Range Diary

[alma]

On St 1 - the rifle targets 1 & 4 were not visible from one position where I picked up the gun, though I wish they were, thats why I blasted the two close targets while I moved those 2 steps. Also I saw my sights for every shot with the rifle instead of just ripping two rounds off from one sight picture, which is why there were makeup shots.

Okay, guess there isn't anything you can do about that then.

Stage 2:

You might have considered drawing onto the big paper target that was right in front of you and then going for the steel.

Why are you still moving? shoot your second paper target, run in front of the plate rack, plant and shoot. Even when you are right there it looks like you are trying to show off by shooting the plate rack while walking backwards or something.

[alma]

Stage 6:

You need to enter box 1 and box 2 ready to shoot. The range conditions might have contributed to this but your gun should be already up and you should be squeezing off the first rounds as you settle into position. It looks like you get in the box and then bring the gun up to start shooting now.

Pistol reload: if it was fast then it doesn't matter if it was low. Doesn't look too low to me. Too much emphasis is placed on reloads highet by many.

[Moltke]

On St 2 -

Yes! I wish I had started with the exposed paper targets instead of the steel. Easy 3 second mistake on my part.

In the center gap I don't remember than I came into the position shooting, kept moving until I could see everything to the right with my peripheral vision, and left the position as fast as possible. A hard stop & setup might have been better.

I should see if I can get footage of some Pro's shooting these stages too & compare.

[Moltke]

St 6 - that was a slippery mess with mud & mulch, I hear what you're saying but I was afraid of a fall & DQ so I chose footing first and shooting second

You're right that its a best practice though

And true about the pistol reload, it was fast and I lost no time there so why focus on it?

[alma]

On St 1 - the rifle targets 1 & 4 were not visible from one position where I picked up the gun, though I wish they were, thats why I blasted the two close targets while I moved those 2 steps. Also I saw my sights for every shot with the rifle instead of just ripping two rounds off from one sight picture, which is why there were makeup shots.

Looks like this guy split the difference on those two targets.

Maybe off-center hits?

[Moltke]

I see that but unless something moved he didnt have much of a target to shoot at because of the prop in the way

I might have overran the spot I had reach while shooting the two close ones but decent target presentation required movement

How did he place in TACOPS? Were their penalties on this stage?

[alma]

I see that but unless something moved he didnt have much of a target to shoot at because of the prop in the way

I might have overran the spot I had reach while shooting the two close ones but decent target presentation required movement

How did he place in TACOPS? Were their penalties on this stage?

No idea. I will check. Here is another one

[Moltke]

If he found a special spot then good but it was a risk. He didn't have much of a target because of prop placement and there might be penalties because you know how barrels can suck up or bounce bullets easily.

[Moltke]

Friday 29 August

Burned myself out training on headshots in preparation for Area 8

[Moltke]

Saturday 30 August

More headshot shooting

Also position to position shooting on arrays with no shoots

[Moltke]

Area 8 Championship

Did so bad I haven't even bothered to look at the scores

[Moltke]

Friday 5 Sep 2014

Showed up at EV for some 3 Gun practice, not knowing exactly what I'd be doing. I ended up running the same drill over and over.

Start with handgun loaded & holstered, empty shotgun at port arms. At the buzzer load 12 slugs, chamber and shoot 1 at a 75 yard full size IPSC steel. Put the shotgun on the table, then draw pistol and shoot 1rd at the same 75 yard full size IPSC steel. Then put the pistol on the table and run to barricade, pickup rifle to shoot 1rd standing supported by the barricade at a 200 yard 4 inch steel target.

This is hard. I also broke my shotgun.

Edited September 8, 2014 by Moltke

[Moltke]

Sunday 6 Sep 2014

Went back out to EV with Sheldon and got some well appreciated advice about how to load a shotgun faster. Tested my new loading gear, Invictus Practical stuff is nice! Starting with an empty gun at port arms, strong hand quad load to a 75 yard slug hit live in 3.99 sec. Now I just need to make that consistent.

Ran the drill more with some variations. All guns loaded to division capacity and empty chambers per FN rules. At the buzzer, 1x 75 yard pistol shot, 1x 75 yard slug shot, 1x 200 yard rifle shot. I will continue to tweak this drill until I get it feel it's the "most useful" it can be. Ideally it would all be at 100 yards instead of 75 but that's what I've got to work with.

[Moltke]

Friday 12 Sep 2014

Went to Peacemaker to help build for FNH and the World Shoot was still going on. I was not impressed. I think it would be better if people would be allowed to bring their own guns & gear to shoot, OR if they wanted to use stage guns. But whatever, not my game. Sounds like a 3 gunner won it overall which I'm not surprised about because 3 is the shit.

Then went to EV and was exhausted so I went home early. Nothing significant accomplished with regard to training.

Edited September 15, 2014 by Moltke

[Moltke]

Saturday 13 Sep 2014

Went to EV with Sheldon, my sis & her fiancee. Everyone shot well, had fun, they learned some stuff, and then went home. Nothing significant accomplished with regard to training.

[Moltke]

Wed 17 Sep 2014

Went to EV alone and did some last minute confirmation of zero as prep for FNH

Was not happy with my .223 accuracy so I spent alot of time on a benchrest shooting a 4 inch piece of steel at 300 yards

About half my shots were hits and I had to live with it as is

GLAD I DID THAT PRACTICE ON THE LONG RANGE BECAUSE IT PAID OFF AT FNH

[Moltke]

Thursday 18 Sep 2014

Shot the morning session at FNH starting on zone 3 stages 7, 8, and 9

Shot stage 8 in the morning and crushed it - Blasted close range steel with the shotgun until it was empty, drew the pistol and kept going choosing to tag the slug plate with the handgun, and then fired a couple extra shots on long range steel but burned it down pretty quick at 103 sec - including the 450 yard target with a 1st round hit

Shot stage 9 and made one mistake - Called a hit on a shotgun target but didn't watch it go down, ditched the shotgun and realized it after I had started shooting with the pistol, oh well. Then while shooting off the roof prop more long range I lost a target in the sun as it was rising over the West Virginia mountains so I sprayed rounds into the berm where I thought the target was until a hit was called. Like shooting irons again, WTF!

Shot stage 7 which was the Tarheel stage - Lots of shooting, reloading, moving. This was fun and fast even though I almost slipped and fell at the end, great CoF and good run.

GLAD I DID THAT PRACTICE ON THE LONG RANGE BECAUSE IT PAID OFF AT FNH

ALSO GLAD I PRACTICED ALOT OF EMPTY CHAMBER STARTS BECAUSE PICKING UP THE SHOTGUN ON STAGE 7 IT PAID OFF

[Moltke]

Friday 19 Sep 2014

Today was my birthday. Yay. Weird having a bunch of people singing to me on a gun range but also kinda neat... moving on...

I shot zone 2 at FNH, courses of fire 1, 2, 3. Started in the afternoon in the woods, started us late and we had to wait around...

Stage 2 - Shotgun targets on the right, reload on the RUN (or as close to a run that I can do with a shotgun), and more shotgun targets before ditching. Pistol targets on the move to the staged rifle, and long range rifle from a seated position. Looking back I would have shot rifle prone but changed nothing else because up to the long range portion I burned it down about as well as Sheldon and he is a great measure of success.

Stage 3 - This was a fast close range hoser stage. Started with the rifle, 8rds standing, short sprint forward and to the left, 10rds standing then ditch the rifle. Pickup the shotgun, load 2 on the way to the new shooting box and hose the shotgun steel. Missed a shot but had loaded extra as insurance and made it up without any problems.

Stage 1 - This was in the woods along the road with a required slung rifle. Everything went great until my rifle didn't extract the round then a tap / rack / bang led to a doublefeed! WHAT! Cleared it and kept shooting, still a strong run but 15 seconds too long from that rifle problem.

[Moltke]

Saturday 20 Sep 2014

Today was a shoot & scoot, had to be at my little sister's wedding!

Stage 5 - Shot a tac bay course of fire where I met Dan Sierpina. This was a hoser with some offhand 50 yard rifle papers.

Stage 6 - THE SLIDE. This course of fire featured a 20 foot 45 degree angle slide which was AWESOME. I hit the long range quick, got my fat ass down the slide, and then pistol out & racked to begin shooting the downhill steel. I took the left most position in the box shooting everything I saw then the right most position in the box shooting everything else, had counted my rounds to 18 but knowing there were 20 I ran back across the box until I could see the 2 hidden targets & blasted them. Looking back on this I should have visualized the shooting positions better and lined up more perfectly to see everything because it was another 5-6 seconds that didn't have to be there

Stage 4 - This was a 3GN left to right hoser course of fire just like in the Pro Series. The two regional matches that I've shot so far didn't have anything like this and I see what people don't like it. There's no gaming, no thought, just basic high speed shooting and moving. But on the other hand, shooting something like this straight up crushes all those other aspects of 3 Gun and the raw aspect the show through from this kind of CoF is "Can you control the shooting (and only the shooting) at a higher speed than everyone else?" There is no other aspect to this type of course of fire, it's pure speed and accuracy. I like one or two of these thrown into a big match. -- Anyway, off the rant about 3GN, I burned this course down like I built it and was just a couple seconds off Sheldon (who again, is a great measurement of success).

Then I got in my car and drove like crazy to be at my sisters wedding 1.5 hours away. FOOT + GAS = GO

------------------------------------------

And I won another gun at this FNH 3G Championship, a FNS-9mm pistol, yay!

[Moltke]

Well I have been considering this for a while but I am going to put in my woes with regard to firearms problems also in this thread. These are the gun problems I've been dealing with in 2014. 99% of the time I trust these guns to run hot, hard and dirty, however these have been the instances they haven't lived up to my expectations.

1 - Light strikes in my Glock 34

This was actually figured out about a month ago after considerable discussion and testing, with factory ammo and reloads, keeping track of failures and circumstances, the culprit is decidedly reloaded primers not being seated deeply enough. I thought it was striker assembly because that's what people said the problem was most likely going to be. And then I thought maybe its because I haven't cleaned the gun in so long?

But every time I have shot factory ammo through the gun runs. So that's one common variable, the reloads.

The Dillon Doctor thinks its primer seating depth and I have to say that when fully seated every round bangs. Additionally, every round that hasn't gone off with a first striker hit, goes off with a 2nd. I believe the high primers are being pushed into a fully seated position with the first striker release, and detonated with the 2nd. This problem has been plaguing me all year but now with a 1050 up and running and the primer seating cranked high, I hope its a thing of the past.

2 - CRP 18 Pro jams

Having bought this rifle with intentions of having the most sophisticated rifle & adjustable gas system on the market, it has been generally good with some issues here and there. Earlier this year with my rifle I shot 2 majors and the gun had issues. The adjustable gas was not adjustable as it had locked in place, the rifle failed to extract some rounds, I was getting a click no bang upon pulling the trigger with primer indentations, the bolt would not close all the way sometimes, some early WTF issues to say the least! After a trip to Bold Ideas the gun came back great and runs hard, hot and dirty just like it should. Since then I've used it with several types of ammunition with great success and no problems.

Recently I borrowed a loaner CRP-18 Pro to shoot the last 3 majors of the year because it was already set up with a 1-6x Vortex and I wanted to try TACOPS. I shot 3k rounds through it using Federal and Stillwood, and also experienced the same handful of issues that mine did but fewer of them, and only once at a match. At FNH the rifle click no banged then experienced a failure to extract while on COF #1 which cost some time but after a malfunction clearing it was right back to work. Both guns are sub-minute accurate and I really like them but not decided what to do for next year. Change parts? Buy a new gun? TACIRONS? TACOPS?

3 - Versamax jams

I love saying the following things about my shotgun:

• it runs all ammos
• it has less recoil than (insert your shotgun here)
• 12+1 capacity is awesome

The recoil thing is true, undeniably true, soft and sluggish but... the rest of it...

The gun does NOT like blue hulled Remington sluggers but LOVES the green ones. It shoots greens better on paper and cycles them every time. The blues however are actually jamming up my gun, WTF? I know its not the color of the plastic thats doing it and its got to be the load but its marketed as the same thing, the box says the same thing, the weight and speed of these things are the same - I just don't know what to think. The solution however has been found already - Buy the green ones.

Also I might have a problem with my lifter not lifting shells into the chamber properly because two things are happening. 1) The lifter gets 1/2 way up and then stops with a shell just waiting patiently on it to be loaded, OR 2) While loading the bolt slams the nose of the shell into the right side of the chamber. I've contacted the gunsmith who did the original work on the gun to see what can be done about that!

4 - Nordic tube broken on my Versamax

Yeah, I love that 12+1 extension... then I broke my 12+1 extension.

OK OK, it was kind of long and hanging out there and I didn't bother to use the barrel clamp to strengthen it... and throwing it into dump barrels or dropping it on tables for a year didn't help either. So it broke. Apparently its a short threaded attachment and doesn't like being smashed around without the recommended barrel clamp, so eventually I broke those thin threads and the shotgun disassembled at the speed of my next trigger pull.

The magazine tube broke off and flew downrange with half a dozen shells, and the spring. The follower stayed in the gun with the other half dozen shells and I recovered the other parts ... all except the spring anyway. With the pressure it was under from being fully squeezed by 12 rds in the tube it probably landed on the moon.

So for the FNH match I borrowed a loaner extension that was 13+1 and there was one time at the match where that extra capacity came in handy! (Stage 7 pickup & load 4 before shooting 12 with 1 insurance round). So my solution to the 12rd mag tube breaking was contacting Nordic and seeing what they could do for me. They sent me an entire replacement tube assembly with all new parts and even a barrel clamp - which is already installed and won't be coming off. It happens to be a 13rd tube this time too so GO NORDIC!

Now I just have to see where my slugs are hitting all over again... yay.

5 - Glock inaccuracy

I have been shooting a Glock 9mm for 10 years now and in fact it has been the same actual gun for most of that time, one my Dad gave me way back when. I have put over 100k rounds through the it, stopped counting a long time ago and also changed some parts out. Springs? Yearly. Trigger assembly? Tried a few drop ins, tried a few DIY options. Sights? Tried a few but can't find what I really want. Currently using black adjustables. After all that I've been looking to switch to another platform.

I don't think the accuracy of the gun is as good as it could be, and I don't think that I'm shooting it to its potential either, so I want to shoot a gun that has a higher mechanical accuracy potential with a lighter shorter crisper trigger pull and maybe it will result in more accuracy downrange? Or not who knows. This year I have been asking friends, starting threads, and even trying out several USPSA Production legal versions or accurized pistols but never actually made a decision. After spending the past month primarily shooting 75 yard slug shots and 75 pistol shots as my practice sessions, I decided yes I'm going to switch.

So I'm going to give a 9mm STI Eagle a try for 2015. I know, not Production legal but I'm going to focus on 3 Gun next year and leave USPSA alone. I'm excited to have a high capacity light weight 2011 and plan to get some sweet custom work by a gunsmithing shooter friend such as a lightened slide, lightened trigger, etc, etc. Then at least I'll have no excuse when I miss a shot that I previously made with my Glock 34! I'm just hoping that it doesn't become a maintenance pain in the ass with an STI because like I said at the beginning of this post - I expect my guns to run hot, hard and dirty.

[alma]

Regarding the Glock light strikes it looked like you were running Winchester primers? As you know I ran a Glock in Production for a number of years and even dabbled in doing trigger jobs for myself and others.

If you are using a reduced power striker spring and a stock striker I would run nothing but Federal primers. Even with Winchester whitebox factory one of my Glocks would have a light strike on maybe 2 of every 100 rounds. Federal primers have a softer priming cup and a more sensitive priming compound and if I was running a race Glock or Revolver again I would never use another brand of primer for competition (practice would be okay). I have some if you want to swap for Winchester to try it out.

There are a couple of other options. When I noticed that my 34 was having light strikes even with WWB I examined the striker closely and compared it with a new one that I had on hand. I noticed that the striker's face had rounded some after firing over 100k rounds through the gun. Once I dropped the new striker in the gun was able to again reliably ignite Winchester primers but still, if I you run a reduced power striker spring I would recommend Federal primers to keep ignition on the safe side. Another option that could be tried is buying an extended length striker. Also, I have plenty of reduced power striker springs (4lb) on hand if it has been awhile since you have put a fresh one in.

Do take a look at your firing pin channel to ensure it is clean. As you know this area should never have lube applied because doing so will attract grime that can quickly build up and impact ignition. You can pretty easily squirt some break parts cleaner (the kind that doesn't ruin polymer) in the hole and use Q-tips and pipe cleaners to remove any foreign material. You can also take the opportunity to polish your striker and the spring if you have not already done so. Examine the striker and safety plunger to look for any burrs that might have developed that could be an indication of misaligned timing where the plunger isn't clearing the firing pin all the way. Obviously this could be a possible cause for the problem if you see any evidence of wear. Finally, you may put a small squirt of graphite in the firing pin channel in place of a wet lube.

Edit: Congratulations on the STI purchase. It sounds like the Glock is about to get really lonely in the safe on the weekends.

Edited October 3, 2014 by alma

[alma]

CRP 18 Pro jams

Just to confirm, these jams were not just after reloading a magazine, right? I have had some fits with that problem which has led me to get a mag well, shave down the over-insertion tab on my P-Mags, and change the attention I was paying to reload force.

Have you ruled out insufficient gas? When was the last time you adjusted your gas and how did the outdoor temperature compare to the temperature when you saw the failures?

I have an SLR Rifleworks Sentry 7 gas block and had no idea why it was nice until someone at the FNH match commented on it. He mentioned that the first gen Syrac adjustable gas blocks could get a build up of crud at the near the gas port that was pretty difficult to clean. Apparently the Sentry 7 has a small port that can be opened for cleaning. If it's been awhile I suggest adjusting your gas again from the full off position and see whether more gas helps. If you want to buy more gear then you can also look at getting a low mas bolt carrier to go along with your adjustable gas. Finally, I gave my rifle a good cleaning before FNH and it was amazing how much crud had collected in the bolt and other areas despite the conservative amount of shooting that I have done. The dirtier your rifle gets the more gas (or lube) you will need to keep the it running reliably.

[alma]

Versamax

Could low spring tension in your tube be adding to your issues? How much extra is coming out of the top? On my gun I know when I cut too many coils because the when the round comes out of the tube it doesn't hit the magic internal button with enough force to close the chamber. Same question with your carrier spring. Some people cut coils on the carrier spring to make it easier to push down when you reload. I imagine that could affect the shells staying on target on the way to the chamber. I really like having a +1 extension handy because it lets me find out roughly what would happen if I cut just 2 more inches off the spring.

I like the mag tube clamp but I was a little worried about how it might affect point of aim for slugs. When I put my clamp on I use exactly 10 lb of torque. The other concern for me was deflecting the barrel one way or another with the clamp. Before putting the clamp on I measured the distance between the tube and the barrel and I used multiple layers of duct tape (not ideal but seemed to work) to shim the correct amount to ensure that I wasn't pulling or pushing the barrel in any other direction.

[Dan Sierpina]

Ken,

I'm old and slow, so take this with several grains of salt, or H335.

1911 based guns are popular for a reason, and not loved only by us old guys. With minor maintenance they are reliable, when built by someone that knows the platform. They are accurate, reliable and have more aftermarket parts available than the rest of the guns. Properly fitted barrels are not finicky, nor are sub 2 pound triggers. Improperly seated primers are not the fault of the pistol, but, of the person loading ammo.

The AR will run with reduced gas, lightened bolt carrier, lighter buffers, to a point. Don't try for that absolute minimum. Take a bit more kick, it won't screw you more than a gun that chokes! AR's like to be run with an abundance of lube. I've used (OH MY GOD!!) LSA for 20 plus years in my AR's, which go back to 1978 for my first Colt SP1.

I know, I'm sounding like that "other" guy, Kurt Miller. A long time in the game does count for something.

[Moltke]

Thanks for the input guys.

After the VAMD section match which was a light strike disaster, I put my factory parts back in the G34 and light strikes continued. Pretty sure the light strike issues are high set primers, now fixed, we will see how it goes. I used the same the light trigger & reload combo all year knowing I had some issues but decided I was just going to live with it.

The CRP jams have been after loading or reloading, during strings of rapid shooting, slow shooting, with federal ammo and stillwood ammo. A wide variety of circumstance but since the gun was originally finicky the gas system has been open full bore and no low mass parts. Out of the box with a scope, oiled and shot.

For the Versamax I need to clean the gun and inspect it in detail before I can say what's what. Haven't cut any springs anywhere and now the mag tube assembly is brand new so that's good.

I'm looking forward to the 2011 very much, it will be my first kind of that gun and the work will be done by a long time gunsmith and USPSA / 3 Gun shooter on the forum. I can already make all the shots in USPSA with my G34 but I want to try something new, and hopefully it will be worth the price of the switch!